The Truth Behind Masks
by snowdarkred
Summary: Beast BoyxRobin. Mirrors can reveal the true reality.... Or they can hide it. A psychological snapshot of the past, a mirror, and understanding.


Author: snowdarkred

Author: snowdarkred

Tile: The Truth Behind Masks

Fandom: Teen Titans

Rating: k+

Words: 1195

A/N: Well, this is my psychological snapshot of Beast Boy. I made up his past. It's not his animated version's past or the comic BB's past. All well. I like it and that's what matters.

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The Truth Behind Masks

Beast Boy stared in the mirror, wondering what his life would have been like if nothing had happened. Would he still be with his parents, traveling the world and studying animals? He surely wouldn't be like he was now, a freak even among freaks.

He closed his eyes and tried to imagine himself without the green pigment that stained his skin. His fangs would be less pronounced. His hair would be a dirty blond, dark enough to be brown. His eyes…. He tried to remember what color they had been, back before…. He couldn't. He squeezed his eyes tighter and clenched his fists, fighting for just one memory…. Surely he must remember something? People don't just_ forget _what they're eye color was, even if the changed it.

But it had been so long ago. He'd been too young; it'd been so sudden….

He couldn't remember his eye color, so he guessed. Brown. Brown was the most common eye color on the planet. Dark blond hair and brown eyes. He would be taller; his natural growth would never have been interrupted. And his skin? It certainly wouldn't be green. No, he gave himself a light tan completion. It was one of the few things he still remembered about his mother. As time passed, he found even the things that he'd sworn never to forget, like the sound of his parents' voice, fading away.

Beast Boy held the image in his mind, wishing with all his might that _that _was what he really looked like. But when he opened his eyes, he was still the same, still green, still a freak. If only….

'If only. If onlys could kill you,' he thought, staring at himself through the mirror. If only he had never transformed. If only his parents had never told their colleagues. If only those colleagues hadn't—

"What are you doing?"

Beast Boy jerked and whirled around to face the intruder. But it was no intruder. Just Robin. Beast Boy scolded himself for letting his guard down, for letting someone- anyone- sneak up on him.

Robin was waiting for an answer. Beast Boy opened his mouth, ready to plaster a smile and lie like there was no bloody tomorrow (1), but something stopped him.

Robin would understand. Of any of the Titans, Robin would understand.

So instead of lying, he said, "I was thinking."

Even though the upper half of the other teen's face was concealed by his mask, Beast Boy could tell that Robin was raising an eyebrow to go with his smirk.

"It does happen from time to time, contrary to popular belief," he snapped, feeling defensive.

Robin dropped the smirk and move farther into the room. Beast Boy resisted the urge to step back, clamping down on his animal instincts. Now that he was aware of Robin's presence, all of his senses maxed out. His hearing caught Robin's light footstep, the rustle of his cape. He smelled Robin's scent, a light blend of sweat and cinnamon with a faint metallic twinge.

Beast Boy refocused on Robin. He was standing just inside the door, completely unaware of the sensory overdrive he'd just given Beast Boy.

"You were thinking?" Robin prodded when the silence had waned into awkwardness. Beast Boy turned back to the mirror, eyeing Robin out of the corner of his eye.

" I was thinking about what it would be like if I was still Garfield Logan. If…." He paused.

Robin didn't say anything for a moment, making Beast Boy uncomfortable. Slowly, Robin stepped forward until he was almost directly beside him.

"We all have those moments," Robin said finally. They both stared into the mirror. Beast Boy wondered what Robin saw. Did he see a mask? Or something else?

Robin understood. Beast Boy felt his chest tighten. At least one of the Titans _understood_. Maybe that was what caused him to do what he did next.

"It was my fault ," he whispered. He stared resolutely a head, refusing to look Robin in the eyes. "I…If I had never transformed…. If I hadn't been so _selfish_."

He closed his eyes, remembering the faint heat of the Brazilian heat, the sweat that never seemed to go away. His mother and father had been working furiously, taking notes on some sort of forest rat they had discovered. Beast Boy, then just Garfield Login, had been around seven. He had wanted his parents' attention; he didn't like that they were ignoring him. Since they were paying attention to the rat, he thought that if he was like the rat, they would pay attention to _him_.

He'd transformed, and everything went downhill from there.

He opened his eyes to see Robin staring at him.

"What…." Robin started, trailing off when he realized he might be prying.

"I wasn't always green, y'know," Beast Boy said, as if that was an answer. Robin was curious, Beast Boy knew, and when that curiosity had a focus, Robin would stop at nothing to find out. "I used to be normal." He snorted. "Well, normal-er."

Robin was still staring at him, staring at him like he wanted to unlock a puzzle. Beast Boy seriously considered letting him.

There was an odd…tenseness in the air. It was making him jumpy. He and Robin hadn't moved, both of them locked in place by the _thing_ that lay between them.

Slowly, hesitantly enough for Robin to stop him if he wanted to, Beast Boy reached up and fingered the edge of Robin's mask. With equal slowness, he eased the mask away from Robin's face. Robin stood shock still, as if he was scared to frighten Beast Boy away.

The mask was off, and Beast Boy stared into Robin's eyes for the first time.

"Beast Boy—" Robin breathed. Beast Boy swallowed convulsively. He had no idea how to act. He had Robin classified in his mind as Alpha-Leader. But acting as no pack leader Beast Boy knew of.

"I…." Beast Boys eyes were glued to Robin's. Robin leaned in slowly and lightly brushed his lips against Beast Boy's. Beast Boy trembled, his senses once again overloaded by the other teen's closeness.

He felt…. God, he felt….

Better. He felt better than he had in a long time.

Robin gently took his mask back from Beast Boy and replaced it on his face. He smiled at the green teen.

"Let's go train."

Beast Boy nodded, still a little glazed. It hadn't really been a kiss, just a light brushing of skin, but it was enough to send his senses reeling. Robin always seemed to send his senses reeling….

Robin was no longer in front of him. He was by the door, looking back at Beast Boy. Breast Boy wondered what Robin saw when he looked at _him_.

"Coming?" Robin asked.

"You bet your socks!" Beast Boy grinned. Robin answered with a grin of his own and raced off to the training rooms. And as Beast Boy darted after him, he let the other him, the one that could never be fade from his mind.

He wondered if he could manage to pin Robin while sparring… and smiled at the thought.

End.

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1) I so ripped that phrase off from Con-chan. Heh-heh.


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